Recent trends in fatal poisoning by opiates in the United States.

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Abstract
Deaths in the USA classified as unintentional poisoning by drugs and medicaments fell from 14.7/million population in 1975 to 8.8 in 1978, a 40% decrease. Of this drop, 73% was attributable to a reduction in deaths coded to opiates and intravenous narcotism. These 2 categories accounted for 38% of all unintentional drug deaths in 1975 but only 15% in 1978. There was no simultaneous increase in other drug-related deaths, including suicides, to account for the reduction in deaths coded to opiates. The highest mortality rates and the greatest variation in mortality during 1970-1978 occurred in 20-29 yr old non-White males. Racial and sex differences in opiate poisoning mortality, notable early in the decade, were greatly reduced by 1978 due to a relatively larger decline in mortality of males and non-Whites. Time trends in mortality from opiate poisoning appear to coincide with variations in the amount of heroin smuggled into the country.